1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates in general to the concurrent holding of a plurality of containers for storing substances for medical, pharmaceutical or cosmetic applications, in particular of vials (vials), ampoules or cartridges, and relates in particular to a process and an apparatus for the treatment or processing of vials at or in a processing station, particularly while they are supported or at least guided by a supporting structure, and to a displacement device for this purpose.
2. Description of Related Art
Medication containers, for example vials, ampoules or cartridges, are widely used as containers for preservation and storage of medical, pharmaceutical or cosmetic preparations to be administered in liquid form, in particular in pre-dosed amounts. These generally have a cylindrical shape, can be made of plastic or glass and are available in large quantities at low costs. In order to fill the containers under sterile conditions as efficiently as possible concepts are increasingly used according to which the containers are already packaged in a transport or packaging container at the manufacturer of the containers under sterile conditions, which are then unpackaged and further processed at a pharmaceutical company under sterile conditions, in particular in a so-called sterile tunnel.
For this purpose, various transport and packaging containers are known from the prior art, in which a plurality of medication containers are concurrently arranged in a regular arrangement, for example in a matrix arrangement along rows and columns extending perpendicular thereto. This has advantages in the automated further processing of the containers since the containers can be transferred to processing stations at controlled positions and in a predetermined arrangement, for example to processing machines, robots or the like. For this purpose, holding structures are used, in which a plurality of containers can be supported concurrently in a predetermined regular arrangement. For the transfer to a processing station it is just required to properly position and open the transport and packaging container. The downstream processing station will then know at what position and in what arrangement the containers to be processed further are arranged.
Such a transport and packaging container and a corresponding packaging concept are disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 8,118,167 B2. The further processing of the containers is, however, always performed such that the holding structure will be removed from the transport and packaging container, that the containers will be removed from the holding structure and isolated and then individually placed on a conveyor, in particular a conveyor belt, and transferred to the processing stations for further processing. This limits the speed of processing that can be achieved. Particularly in the isolation of the containers by means of cell wheels or the like, it always occurs that individual containers abut uncontrolled, which results in an undesired abrasion and subsequently in a contamination of the interior volume of the containers or of the processing station and in an impairment of the outer appearance of the containers which is undesirable.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,100,263 B2 discloses a portable transport and packaging container that can be packaged in a sterile manner, in which a plate-shaped holding structure can be inserted in which a plurality of medication containers are held in a regular arrangement. Firstly, the individual medication containers are placed loosely in receptacles, which are formed in the holding structure. Then, the holding structure is placed in the transport and packaging container, which is then surrounded by a gas-impermeable plastic tube. Upon subsequent evacuation of the packaging unit thus formed, the plastic tube is pressed into the spaces between the medication containers due to the negative pressure prevailing in the tube, which, on the one hand, results in a stabilization of the positions of the medication containers in the holding structure and, on the other hand, in a prevention of further uncontrolled collisions of adjacent medication containers. During the evacuation and the subsequent opening of the plastic tube, however, the medication containers may slip sideways, increasing the efforts required for automation for processing further the medication containers. In addition, the medication containers may still collide uncontrollably after opening of the plastic tube, resulting in the aforementioned disadvantages. The medication containers cannot be processed further while being in the transport or packaging container or in the holding structure, but must be isolated in the conventional manner first and handed over to downstream processing stations.
Other comparable transport and packaging containers and supporting structures are disclosed in WO 2011/135085 A1 and WO 2009/015862 A1. However, for the further processing the medication containers always need to be isolated. A further processing of the medication containers in batches while being accommodated in a holding structure as outlined above is not possible.
FIGS. 1 to 4 of WO 2009/015862 A1 disclose a holding structure, wherein resilient holding tabs press firmly against the constricted neck portions at the upper ends of the vials to retain the vials by friction. Thus, the holding structure is of very limited use for vials having high tolerances or having different outer diameters. Furthermore, the vials cannot be retained free of tension in the holding structure, which may result in an undesired bulging of the holding structure, in particular during the processing. The vials can also not be inserted from above into the receptacles of the holding structure.
In the aforementioned holding structures the outer diameter of the vials is used basically as an auxiliary contour for fixing the vials on the holding structure. Therefore, the use of such holding structures is not flexible enough for vials having larger tolerances and/or different outer diameters.
In any case, a direct contact of the bottoms of the medication containers, in particular of the bottoms of vials, is not possible for the conventional holding structures. However, this complicates the further processing of the medication containers particularly when their content is to be subjected to a freeze-drying process (also known as lyophilization or sublimation drying). Furthermore, a further processing of the medication containers directly in the holding structures is not possible, because they are either retained there rigidly or not accessible to a sufficient degree for further processing, for which reason the medication containers conventionally always need to be taken out of the holding structure for a further processing, which is time-consuming and expensive.